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My first long term guest has left, and I’ve had a chance to go over the room from top to bottom. There are several annoying issues, and I’m left wondering, What the HELL is wrong with people?
One thing is a missing bath towel. It’s one of the darkest color ones. I’m certain she colored her hair, ruined the towel and then threw it away when I wasn’t looking. This woman and I had conversations early in her stay about how we both color our own hair. Think maybe, just maybe, she could have asked if I might have a black towel or something she could borrow? Maybe buy her own dark towel? No. Let’s just use my lovely host’s towel, she won’t notice!
Anyway, the real issue, and topic of this post is the carpet. I have discovered an area next to the bed where the carpet fibers have been somehow melted and singed. My best guess is she was careless with her curling iron and left it on the floor (more than once) before it had cooled off.
Should I bother contacting Airbnb? The damage doesn’t show well in a photograph. It’s not terrible, but it’s there and it’s noticeable. It’s not something that can just be repaired I don’t think, without replacing the whole carpet. Does anyone else have any experience with an issue like this?
Sorry to hear about the carpet. I thought you were maybe going to say you found a lot of pee stains. She doesn’t sound like the type who would actually scrub out pee stains, but rather would just soak it up with a paper towel. I wish I had advice about the carpet. How old was this person?
Since this woman was, in general, a less than optimal guest I would contact Airbnb. Try taking pictures at different angles with and without flash. Take pictures of normal carpet and damaged. I’d charge for the missing towel too. Those are not normal wear and tear. As for spot repairs on carpet…if there is some carpet somewhere like under a dresser or in a closet that a patch could be taken out of a professional can come put the undamaged carpet into the visible spot. Another option is re-arranging the furniture or buying a throw rug. But I’d make her pay of the repair whether it was performed or not.
I would charge her for the damaged carpet. If you open up a case on the Resolution center, she might just pay up, coz I’m sure she knows what she did. And since she didn’t tell you about it before she left, probably hoped you wouldn’t notice. Same attitude about the missing towel (which you might want to charge for, too, if you are certain she took it, coz theft is theft)
Experiment with lighting (sideways?) to see if you can make the carpet damage show up in the picture.
Some people are just TOTALLY clueless about how things get damaged, and she probably isn’t even aware that she has caused any damage. But please do try and get her to pay so she can learn.
Same attitude about the missing towel (which you might want to charge for, too, if you are certain she took it, coz theft is theft)